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Help in Handling your Money

Experiencing problems managing your finances, take a look at this comprehensive list of agencies that could help you help yourself:

Debt Management
For help in consolidating debt please visit our debt management page.

Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB)
Debt agencies and lenders chasing you for loan and credit card repayments and feeling over-whelmed? Why not speak to the CAB, an organisation setup to give consumers free, impartial advice.

Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS)
For anyone faced with growing credit card and loan debt, the CCCS offers free and confidential advice and support service, online or over the phone.

National Debtline
This service also offers free independent and confidential advice over the phone for people living all over England, Wales and Scotland. Call: 080 88 08 40 00. Alternatively, visit the National Debtline website.

Credit Action
The Credit Action organisation are a finance charity that’s dedicated to improving British people’s thinking about money. They offer a number of resources, tools and training to help educate people better about handling personal money better.

Find out how you can avoid getting into credit card or payday loan debt over Christmas by budgeting sensibly.

When it comes to spending a lot of money Christmas tends to be the worst time of year… especially for those of us who simply can’t afford to become overdrawn or risk any further debt.

Whilst the likes of credit cards can make the burden of spending over Christmas slightly lighter, especially since you can repay the balance of your credit limit back over a number of months, it’s worth thinking about your available budget before turning to a credit card or any other form of borrowing, such as a payday loan.

The question you really should ask yourself is:

After household bills and other outgoings are paid – how much money do I have left?

Whilst this might seem like an obvious starting block you’d be surprised at the number of people who don’t consider budgeting before spending at Christmas… this way leads to potential debt.

Budgeting sensibly ensures that the risk of needing to turn to a bank overdraft or credit card is miniscule, however, if you need to borrow some money to help meet the costs of Christmas it’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you don’t overspend. It really is about keeping within your budget as much as you can and only turn to a credit card as a last resort.

However, if you are looking for a decent credit card with benefits to help get you through the Christmas period you could consider one of the following:

Premium Platinum Credit Card:

A Credit building Credit Card:

Banks still charging extortionate rates on overdrafts

Recent figures by the Bank of England suggests that customers are being crippled by the highest rate in overdraft charges since records began.

Financial experts throughout the UK have condemned these extortionate charges being imposed on customers who dip into the red on their bank accounts.

The figures released by the Bank of England yesterday shows that overdraft rates reached a whopping 19.09% back in October.

As a result the typical customer is actually being faced with repayments that are 38 times more than the 0.5% base rate set by the Bank of England.

Most shockingly, Lloyds, the bank that British taxpayers had to bail out back in 2008, are charging their customers 19.3% and, on top of this, requiring their customers to pay £5 per month on top of this just for the privilege of having an overdraft facility in place.

Financial expert, Andrew Hagger, commented:

“When an overdraft is unauthorised, you can understand the idea that you are charged when you go further into the red. But to ask to borrow money and then be charged these exorbitant rates is just very difficult to swallow.”

In spite of this there are a number of high street banks such as the Halifax who have realised that the charges they were previously imposing on their customers were ridiculous.

As a result a number of banks have changed the fee to a fixed charge should their customers go over-drawn. For instance, the Halifax are now charging a daily rate of £1 for being overdrawn with permission, or £5 per day on an unauthorised overdraft.

CreditWindow suggests that if you are facing these ridiculous charges on your overdraft now may be the time to switch to a different bank account. Alternatively you could consider dipping into savings or even using a credit card rather than going overdrawn and facing exorbitant charges.

Credit cards set to pay for Christmas

A recent study by ConsumerIntelligence.com shows that over half of British consumers are planning to use credit cards to meet the costs that Christmas throws at them.

A massive 55% of people have said that they plan to use their credit card to fund the Christmas period, whilst, more worryingly, a further 3% are planning to take out loans.

In contrast, only 24% of respondents are expecting to use savings to cover Christmas costs to ensure they stay in credit.

The number of people relying on credit cards or personal loans to pay for Christmas is disturbingly up on the 14% of consumers who borrowed money last year, 34% of which are still attempting to clear 2009 Christmas debt.

The Managing Director of ConsumerIntelligence.com, Ian Hughes, commented:

“Christmas is only one day in the year but the financial effects appear to last all year for a substantial number of adults.”

Mr Hughes added:

“Around 14% of adults got into debt as a result of Christmas spending last year and many are still paying for that.”

UK homeowners struggling to meet credit card and loan repayments

Debt management help may be needed by British consumers who are struggling to meet personal loan and credit card repayments, according to a survey by YouGov.

The report showed that around 1 in 6 households in the UK are experiencing difficulties with their mortgage.

A further 18% of british homeowners also reported that it is a constant struggle to meet monthly repayments on their mortgages. This is a significant rise from the 10% reported last year in 2009.

Even more worryingly, the report shows that the number of home reposessions actually represents the highest levels the UK has experienced since the mid-90s.

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter, commented:

“Clearly this shows what a difficult year it has been for many homeowners, with thousands of people literally hanging on to their homes by the skin of their teeth.”

“With potential interest rate rises, higher unemployment and steep increases in food and fuel bills on the horizon, it seems unlikely things are about to get easier for homeowners any time soon.”

Mr Robb went on to urge the UK Government to ensure that support is offered and maintained for struggling homeowners and to ensure mortgage lenders are playing “their part too so that homeowners are not faced with the prospect of losing their homes.”

On another note, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, have revealed that many people are turning to friend’s sofas as they have chosen to rent their property to meet their mortgage repayments.

Credit card spending drops to lowest rate this year

Recent reports show that growth in credit card spending has slowed to it’s lowest rate over the third quarter of 2010. It’s thought that this is due to consumers cutting back on non-essential and luxury items.

In spite of credit card spending dropping to it’s lowest rate this year, the report by Visa Europe also suggested that spending had grown year-on-year. The report shows that credit card spending was 7.9% higher during the last three months compared with the same period last year.

Visa have said that this is a good indication that total spending had actually recovered to pre-recession levels. However, they added that since the rate of growth was starting to flatten out it is also a clear indication that consumer spending is unlikely to play a key role in the UK’s economic recovery.

Growth in many areas have still been marginal. Items such as holidays, cinema trips, cameras and video games increased by merely 0.4% year-on-year, which is down from a rise of 7.5% over the second quarter of 2010.

On a more positive note, consumer credit card and debit card spending on clothing and footwear continued to see significant gains at 12.1%, however, this was still lower than the 17.6% increase in the first quarter of the year.

Credit card charges imposed by local councils

Top 5 Credit Card Myths

Brits borrow credit to pay for holidays

A recent report by online travel agent, Sunshine.com, has revealed that British consumers are prepared to borrow from banks and credit card companies just so that they can afford to take a trip abroad.

The report shows that a whopping 50% of borrowers paid with a credit card, whilst over a quarter actually took out a bank loan to pay for a holiday.

Shockingly, 20% of people stated that they would rather face debt than go without a holiday abroad. Of the 1,891 people polled, 50% revealed that it would take 12 months or more to complete repayments, with 22% taking around 6 months to repay debts and a mere 7% were able to clear their debt in a month.

Chris Brown, Managing Director of Sunshine.co.uk, commented:

“Borrowing money has unfortunately become an increasing necessity for those wanting to enjoy a little luxury in this tough economic climate.

“The fact that many would rather experience debt than go without a holiday is surprising, but it just proves how important a little respite from the pressures of everyday life can be.”

Mr Brown also urged caution when considering borrowing money, whether credit cards, bank loans or even payday loans, to pay for a holiday.

Consumer lust for credit drops

Consumer spending on credit cards saw a drop in June due to fears over the state of the UK’s economy, according to recent figures revealed by the Finance and Leasing Association.

Spending on consumer credit products over June dropped to £4.27 billion, a significant 8% less than the same time the previous year.

Unsecured loans saw the biggest drop, by a third, to £190 million, when compared to June in 2009. Credit cards, although saw a drop of 9% in comparison to last year, were still the most popular unsecured lending product at £2.56 billion.

The Group’s Head of Consumer Finance, Fiona Hoyle, stated that June’s figures suggested that consumers were still concerned and uncertain over the state of the economy:

“It may be that they are waiting to see the impact of public sector expenditure cuts on disposable income before making any long-term repayment commitments on credit.”

Ms Hoyle went on to add:

“The statistics show that the credit market is still weakened.”

All areas of lending saw a drop over the month, with the exception of car finance, which saw a rise of 13%, year-on-year, to more than £1 billion.

Borrowing rates see marked improvements

Hopes of a smaller increase in credit borrowed than first feared in 2010 has been fuelled by a slight improvement in Britain’s dreadful public finances over July.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that the UK sank further into the red over July. Net borrowing increased by £3.8 billion over the month, however, the ONS also indicated that this is an improvement compared to the same time last year when borrowing saw an increase of £6.1 billion.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had originally forecasted borrowing to hit £149 billion for the full year. Vicky Redwood, Economist for Capital Economics UK, commented:

“Should borrowing continue along the same path, it would undershoot the OBR’s full-year forecast by around £3 billion.This still leaves borrowing at extremely high levels and does not reduce the need for a massive fiscal tightening over the coming years.”

The amount of credit borrowed is still raising concerns amongst a number of experts. Many economists believe that the Government’s measures, announced in the Budget earlier this year, to help bring the deficit down is the right move to help the UK’s economy to recover.

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